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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  6. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. Let us try to swim against the ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. content — the amount
  3. capital — money
  4. capital — a city
  5. mark — to pay attention
  6. current — happening now
  7. squash — the sport
  8. content — happy
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. mark — a grade
  12. clip — a video
  13. land — a country
  14. land — to come down
  15. mark — a trace
  16. chair — a leader
  17. squash — to crush
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. current — electric
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. clip — for paper
  23. clip — to cut
  24. current — of water

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com